Stephen Kneale writes about all the different kinds of Bible studies held in his church. Perhaps their example will give you some ideas for what could be possible in your church.
But at the end of his piece, he makes a crucial point. Regardless of what sort of discussion or study group we’re holding, we must always make sure our conclusions and applications are drawn reasonably from the argument of the biblical text. And when people make spontaneous connections to all the different areas of their lives, leaders ought to help them remain anchored to the text.
And one of the most direct ways to do that is to ask the simple question: So where do you get that from the text? As Kneale writes:
This matters because not every comment in every bible study is of equal worth. Not every application of scripture is a valid application of scripture. What we are trying to model to people in these studies is how we helpfully read the Bible. We are either showing how we understand the text in front of us or we are highlighting how we rightly apply the text to ourselves, without making applications that are not permitted or bear no real relation to the text itself.
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